Talented Workers Opting to Leave USA

There was a time when the USA enjoyed a constant influx of talented workers from around the world who sought to move to the USA and become citizens. Now, for the first time because of better opportunity elsewhere and a broken immigration system, such workers are either not coming to the USA or leaving after acquiring an education in this country. While not mentioned, I cannot help but believe that the rampant anti-immigrant hysteria of the GOP base and religious intolerance that tracks with it doesn't play some under the radar influence as well. USA Today looks at the phenomenon which ought to disturb rational thinking citizens even if not those who continue to call the GOP their political home. Here are some story highlights:

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More skilled immigrants are giving up their American dreams to pursue careers back home, raising concerns that the U.S. may lose its competitive edge in science, technology and other fields. "What was a trickle has become a flood," says Duke University's Vivek Wadhwa, who studies reverse immigration. Wadhwa projects that in the next five years, 100,000 immigrants will go back to India and 100,000 to China, countries that have had rapid economic growth. "For the first time in American history, we are experiencing the brain drain that other countries experienced," he says.

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Suren Dutia, CEO of TiE Global, a worldwide network of professionals who promote entrepreneurship, says the U.S. economy will suffer without these skilled workers. "If the country is going to maintain the kind of economic well-being that we've enjoyed for many years, that requires having these incredibly gifted individuals who have been educated and trained by us," he says. Wadhwa surveyed 1,203 Indian and Chinese immigrants who had worked or been educated here before returning to their homelands and found the exodus has less to do with the faltering U.S. economy than with other factors.

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Multinational companies that belong to the American Council on International Personnel tell Executive Director Lynn Shotwell that skilled immigrants are discouraged by the immigration process, she says. Some can wait up to a decade for permanent residency, she says. "They're frustrated with having an uncertain immigration status," she says. "They're giving up."

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Naturally, this issue either goes over the heads of the birther and teabagger crowd or, more likely, they welcome the exodus of those "foreigners." Truth be told, if I ever had the opportunity, I'd leave the USA as well for a country where gays are full citizens.